Camera Position 140 : Editing & Sequencing

July 22, 2014 Jeff Curto

Content, sequence and structure matter. This episode looks at editing down your photographs to a cogent and clear set that tells your story most effectively and strengthen the work.

We also look at the element of sequencing your images as an important element of helping you to create structure in your work. Whether you are trying to tell a story or you want to create a different type of coherence in a body of work, the process of editing and sequencing your images becomes of paramount importance.

Play Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Mercato Rialto, Venezia, 2003 - Photograph by Jeff Curto — Mercato Rialto, Venezia, 2003 – Photograph by Jeff Curto

Podcast Entry

Camera Position 139 : The Story Spine

July 8, 2014 Jeff Curto

The Story Spine is a wonderful method of conceptualizing a story. Initially conceived by playwright Kenn Adams, it’s a great tool for anyone who wants to tell a story effectively. The Story Spine is a template, but a loose one, with some open-ended statements that you can fill in to help you start to conceptualize a story.

Spine

Play Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Platform

Once Upon a Time…
Everyday…

The Catalyst

But one day…
Then something changed…

The Consequences

Because of that… (repeated as needed)
And then __________ occurred
And then…

The Climax

Until finally…
Then suddenly…

The Resolution

Ever since then…
And the moral of the story is…
And the funny thing was…

For a PDF of The Story Spine, click here.

Podcast Entry

Camera Position 138 : Telling a Story with Pictures

July 1, 2014 Jeff Curto

Photography excels at storytelling. While a single image can tell a story, we can tell much more complex stories with sets or series of images.

If we set out to create those images with a story idea in mind, it’s much easier to have our stories make sense. This episode presents the essential elements of storytelling with images.

We’ve all known great storytellers and we know that what they are able to do is tap into both the personal and the universal when they tell a story. They also understand that a story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Typically, a good story has most, if not all of these elements, each of which is explained in the podcast:

Introduction
Situation
Main Character
Detail
Setting The Hook
Tension
Consequence
Conclusion

I’ve found that photographers have a much easier time with storytelling if they photograph with story in mind. If you start thinking about the story that you’ll tell before you start to photograph, you’ll have an easier time of making a story work than if you try to impose story on photographs you’ve already made.